Switch-stand



(No ModeL) 3 sheetssheet 1. R. STRETCH. SWITCH STAND.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No ModeL) R. STRETCH..

SWITCH STAND No. 315,570. Patented Apr14,.1885.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

R. STRETCH.

SWITCH STAND.

N0. 315,570. `Patented Apr. 14, 1885.`

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UNITED I STATES PATENT Cramer.4

ROBERT STRETCH, or TECUMsRH, MICHIGAN. A

SWITCH-STAN D.

SPECIFICATION forming par; of Letters Patent No. 315,570, dated April14, 1885. Application inea April is, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that l, ROBERT STRETCH, a cit izen of the United States,residing at Tecumseh, in the county of Lenawee andState of Michigan,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-SwitchStands, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to railroad-switch" stands to be used in throwingthe rails forming the switch in a railroad-track,- the stand, togetherwith all the mechanism connected therewith, being designated herein as arailroad-switch stand.7

The object ofmy invention is to secure a switch-stand in which, first,the working parts may be so protected or housed and of such characterthat the action of snow, ice, or water, and the use and consequent wearof the different parts will not interfere with or in any way affect theworking thereof; second, the mechanism by which the switch'rail isthrown is easily and perfectly controlled, certain in its action, andaffords meanswhereby great power may be exerted through the lever bywhich the switch is operated when requiredas, for instance, when a splitswitch, socalled, is used, in order to force the splitrails of theswitch against the main or unbroken rail or railsv and permanently holdthem there; third, the switch-rails, when placed in any desiredposition, will not become displaced or changed by the jolting or jarringof a train passing over said switch, or by any power or pressure appliedin any way other 4than tothe lever by which the switch is operated, thusavoiding the necessity of locking the lever to the switchstand toprevent the accidental displacement of the switch, and affording means,when said -lever is made detachable, of dispensing entirely with anylock to prevent thoughtless or accidental meddling therewith; and,fourth, means are provided for moving the switchrails, compact in form,and having a lever moving, when the switch is thrown, in a verticalplane parallel Ato the rails forming uthe track.

-I havel illustrated my invention by the drawings-accompanying thisspecification and forming a part hereof, in which- Figure l is a plan ofswitch-rails and track with the switch-stand attached. Fig. 2y is aperspective of my improved switch-stand.

Fig. 3 is an elevation with a portion of the drum taken away, showinginterior. Fig. t

illustrates one way of constructing a switch containing a portion of theelements of my invention. Fig. 5 is a crosssection illustrating anothermanner of constructing myim# proved switch-stand. Fig. 6 is acrosssection of Fig. 3 on line 6 6, looking in the direc- 6o tion of thearrow in Fig. 3. Figs. 7 and 8 are detail drawings ofthe manner in whichthe endsof arnisT may be protected from wear. A round metal ball, K, isinserted in hole g, 4 (shown in Fig. 7,) having a diameter larger thanthe thickness of the arm T, and loosely fitting grooves J J in the innersurface of cylinder D. f i, Like letters refer to like parts throughoutd, Y the several views.

of cast-iron or other metal, having shoulder or flange b lapping'over orpartially covering y, cylinder D. C C are .square or rectangular holesin heads B. C is a round hole in head 75.

B' in the form of construction illustrated in Fig. 5. C C', Fig. 4, areslots in head'slB. D is a cylinder, of cast-iron or `other suitablematerial, revolving freely in heads B, and having socket d or itsAequivalent cast thereon, d`

to receive lever F, and also having spiral` groove or threads cast onthe inner or outer surface thereof, as preferred. D', Fig. 5, isacylinder similar to cylinder D, having like, grooves or threads, J, onthe inside thereof, but stationary in heads B B. `E is a square orrectangular bar or rod, of wrought-iron or other suitable material. BarE is connected# or attached to switch-rails X X. E is a modi d cation ofrod or bar E.- AEl is that portion of 9o Fz is another form of adetachable lever. Gis f 1 a link attached to drum D. g is a hole inarmT.

g' is aprojection or hook on lever Ff; H is alink Icc on lever F. `hisaprojection or hook on drum D. K is a ball, of steel or other suitablematerial, placed in 'hole g in arm T; The groove J in cylinder D is madeof such width when y 7o A is the base-plate. B B are circular heads,

ball K is used that ball K will slide freely therein. Ball K thusreceives the wear which arm T would otherwise be subjected to when Jtheswitchis thrown. J J are two grooves on the inner surface of drum D, ineach of which grooves one end of arm T fits movably close. A rib orthread may be used instead of groove J, in which case agroovedconstruction or the grooved roller d (shown in Fig. S) would replacetherib or other projecting part of arm T, and groove J may be placed onthe outside of the drum, as on drum D, Fig. 4. T 'I' are projectingT-headed arms, rigidly attached to bar E and also to bar E2. T is a boltor point attached to bar E and fitting into groove J. .N is a form ofsignal-shaft illustrated as used in connection with my improvedswitch-stand, having arm f engaging with slot L in bar E or E. Arms T Tmay form a segment of a screw-thread or spiral rib fitting closely intogrooves J J, on the inside of the cylinder D. When preferred, hole g maybe east or bored in each of the arms T T, and round ball K, of steel orother suitable material placed therein, fitting into grooves J J. W'hentwo ribs are used instead of grooves J J, roller d', having a grooveformed as shown in Fig. 8, is used. When the form of bar E', Fig. 4, isused, groove J, or an equivalent rib, is cast on the outside of thecylinder. Lever F may be fastened firmly in socket d of cylinder D, or,if preferred, the lever may be detachable from said socket or itsequivalent.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a link, G, and projection, It, attached to drumD, and link H and projoction g on lever F. When the forni lastdescribed, Fig. 6, is used, thedrumD can be turned only by lever F withconnecting.- links, and no lock is ordinarily necessary. BarE slidesfreely in slots or holes C Cin circular heads B. Bar E slides freely inslots or holes C C in circular heads B. Heads B B may be bolted tobase-plate A, or one of said heads may be cast on or with base-plate A.Cylinder D revolves freely in circular heads B B. Cylinder D does notrevolve in circular heads B B.

It is evident that grooves J J may be placed on the outside of cylinderD, and arms' T T of bar E be made to engage therein in the manner shownin Fig. 4, which would be the equivalent of the form described andclaimed herein; but if such form of construction is adopted the workingparts of the switch are exposed to snow, ice, and other obstructions,and the switch would thus be liable to getout of order or become broken,and for these and other obvious reasons I prefer to construct myimproved switch in the manner illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, 5, and 6.

In order that the various forms of construction and the principlegoverning the same which have been given may be more completely and thebetter understood, I will now give an exact description of each of them.

The construction illustrated in Figs. 2 andV 3 consists of base A,having heads B B firmly secured thereto, cylinderD, having thegrooves JJ on the inner surface thereof, said cylinder D turning freely in headsB B, and the bar E, passing completely through heads B B and cylinder D,bar E having thereon arms T T,.

follows: The cylinder D turns freely in thev heads B B, (in preciselythe same way as in the construction just described.) Grooves J J are onthe outer surface of cylinder D, and bar E, instead of passing throughcylinder D and heads B B, as in the construction last described, passesaround the outside of the cylinder, having short arms T T', which engagewith the grooves J J. Cylinder D is turned in heads B B in precisely thesame manneras is the cylinder turned in the construction shown in Figs.2 and 3, and bar E is thus drawn or screwed to the right or left, asdesired. In this form of construction the turning of the cylinder D inheads B B is protected or housed from the weather as in the form iirstdescribed; but the grooves J J and arms T T' may be clogged by dirt orsnow or ice or otherwise, and I do not,therefore,make use of this formof construction.

The construction shown in Fig, 5 is as follows: Base A, heads B B,cylinder D, having grooves J J, are identical with the same, as shownand illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 and before described 5 but the cylinderD, instead of rotating or revolving in the heads B B, as in both formsbefore described, is held stationary therein,and instead of asquare orrectangular hole, C, in head B a round hole, C, is provided, as shown atthe righ t. The bar E, passing through the heads B B and cylinder D, isbroken or cut in two at e2 e3, and a joint made that will allow a rotarymotion to be given to that portion of bar E lettered E2, Fig. 5. LeverF2 is placed upon the part e of barE2,pro jected through head B. Theturning of bar E2,having arms T T,engaging with groove J J thereon tothe right or left,will draw or screw bar E backward or forward, asdesired.

The manner of operation of my improved switch-stand is as follows: LeverF is turned or rotated, cylinder D rotating in unison there- IOO 315,570d l f 3 ployed in a two-throw switch, cylinder 'D makes about one-half arevolution. When employed in a three-throw switch, cylinder D makesabout onequarter of a revolution, when the next of any given switch-railis placed in position. When a greater throw is desired, the size of thecylinder D may be increased so that any desired portion of a revolutionthereof will throw the switch-rails suftlciently to place any desiredswitch-rails in connection with the main track. Cylinder D is in allcases of sufficient length and diameter so the grooves J J form aninclined plane, as do the threads of an ordinary screw, having suchinclination, as compared with the plane in which the T- headed armsrotate in the construction shown in Fig. 5, that when cylinder D isrevolved or made to rotate bar E will be pushed or drawn freely andeasily in slots C C; but when bar E is pulled or pushed in eitherdirection by the action of the rails or otherwise, there is no tendencyto turn or rotate cylinder D.

Having thus described my invention, its construction, and its manner ofoperation, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A frame forming abase-plate and having g cylinder-heads castor boltedthereon, a cylin-` der having a groove or thread placed therein orthereon turning freely in said heads, with 3o" a lever removablyattached thereto, in combi- V nation with a bar attached to theswitch-rails passing through slots or holes in said cylinderheads, andhaving projecting arms engaging ROBERT srREToH.

Witnesses:

GHARLEs T. BROWN, F. L. BROWN.

